Treasure

Contents

Treasure refers to a specific type of chest found only in Elona and which does not require a key to reveal its contents. When opened, treasure drops gold and items. Unlike key-locked chests, treasure does not respawn after rezoning, it is always located in the same spot, its yields are more predictable, and it can only be opened about once every 30 days.

Opening these do not count towards the Treasure Hunter title.

Loot from treasure

Opening a chest causes gold to be added directly to a character's inventory (the amount will be noted in the chat window). Treasure also drops either a jewel or an item of gold or purple rarity. The amount of gold and the item quality varies, depending on the explorable area in which it is located and the number of times the character has revealed its contents. Initial amounts vary from 500 in Istan to 3000 in the Realm of Torment. The value of the gold and the value of the item seem to be linked: higher amounts of gold are found with gold items, lesser amounts with purple ones.

If a character attempts to visit a treasure more often than once every 30 days, a "magical force" will prevent them from opening it until another 30 days have passed.

Diminishing returns

Assuming all drops are identified and sold to NPCs, the expected return for collecting all 12 treasures is as much as 30 for the first run, dropping by approximately a third in subsequent runs, down to a minimum of about 10 by the fourth visit. These values are decreased if the character finds lots of gems but can be increased by trading high-demand items (and salvaged components) to other players.

The exact mechanics of the diminishing returns are still not fully understood. Players have speculated endlessly without coming to any agreed-upon explanation. Most of the evidence is anecdotal and those who have conducted controlled tests have found exceptions to each.

Speculative note: These are the three most persistent theories, despite the amount of counter-evidence contradicting them:

(1) Waiting longer than 30 days between opening increases the quality and yield.
(2) Opening only some chests diminishes returns on the whole set (even after waiting more than 30 days for some);
(3) The order in which the treasures are visited matters.

Check List

Notes

Treasures reset 30 days from the last time opened or the completion of the final Nightfall mission (which ever is more recent). Those attempting to gain treasure before the 30 days have expired have to wait another 30 days.